President Donald Trump marked a political return not seen in over a decade Monday evening as he delivered an annual target championing a new dawn for the state after four decades of Democratic control.
“The golden era of America begins right now, ” Trump said. “ From this day forward, our nation will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the fear of every region. ”
“America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more remarkable than ever before, ” he added. “ I return to the president confident and positive that we are at the start of a thrilling new age of national success. ”
Opening DAY LIVE UPDATES: DONALD TRUMP TO Get SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM
Trump also bemoaned the “radical and corrupt establishment ” and the immigration issue that grew to traditional levels after he left the White House in 2021.
In a not-so-subtle killed at his father, former President Joe Biden, Trump said, “ From this moment on, America’s reduction is over. ”
Biden would laugh throughout the conversation and clapped at its finish, though he frequently remained seated as the room applauded for Trump and his former political enemy excoriated him.
The nation’s 45th and 47th president singled out and criticized the immigration issue at the southern boundary and the sanctuary laws that protected “dangerous criminals, some from prisons and intellectual institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the globe. ”
Creating on themes from the presidential plan, Trump said he would revoke the policies from the Green New Deal, reform the nation’s business system, and create a Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump added he would establish a “colorblind and merit-based ” society, bringing the nation’s culture wars to the White House. “It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female, ” Trump said.
The speech struck a more optimistic tone, a far cry from Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech, in which he said, “This American carnage stops right here. ”
As part of an ambitious legacy he plans to enact, Trump said the nation would attempt to expand its territory of control, not just globally but intergalatically.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars, ” Trump said.
The president comes into office four years after it appeared his political career would end due to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that prompted members of Trump’s Cabinet to resign and Republicans to condemn his actions.
But that nadir quickly fell away as he steamrolled GOP rivals during the presidential primary, survived two assassination attempts, and endured a 34-count felony conviction before dominating Biden during their sole presidential debate and then defeating then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way, ” Trump said about his trials.
“ Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear, ” he continued to standing applause. “ But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. ”
Trump not only won the popular vote during the November election, but he also won all seven battleground states and chipped into the Democratic Party coalition by winning higher shares of minority voters.
Only former President Grover Cleveland in 1893 has served two nonconsecutive terms in the White House.
At 78 years old, Trump is now the oldest president sworn into office, narrowly beating out Biden, and is the first commander in chief who is a convicted felon.
Now, as Trump returns to power, he is aided by a GOP that has bowed to his vision of the Republican Party.
Republicans hold control of both chambers of Congress and are quickly working to enact Trump’s agenda, which includes tax cuts, a border crackdown, a boost to domestic energy production, and an end of DEI programs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA ) is moving quickly to send Trump the Laken Riley Act, a bill to penalize illegal immigration further, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD ) is working to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL ) as secretary of state before the end of Monday.
Even former Vice President Mike Pence, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination and refused to endorse him after Trump had secured the nomination, attended Monday’s ceremony.
“This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States, ” Pence wrote on social media.
Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), former Trump Cabinet member Elaine Chao, and former House Speakers Kevin McCarthy, John Boehner, and Newt Gingrich were also in attendance for Trump’s inauguration. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, however, did not attend.
Other high-profile guests of Trump in attendance include Tesla owner Elon Musk, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Fox News magnate Rupert Murdoch, podcast host Joe Rogan, and Miriam Adelson, the billionaire Israeli American GOP donor.
The president also comes into power more popular than he was in 2017, when his victory sent shock waves through Washington.
In December 2016, Trump’s presidential transition had a 48 % approval rating and 48 % disapproval rating, according to Gallup. By December 2024, Trump’s approval ratings hit 51 %, with only 44 % disapproving.
Even Democrats are taking a more conciliatory approach to Trump, a far cry from the “resistance ” of 2017. In one example, New York Democratic Mayor Eric Adams scrapped plans to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day to attend the inauguration.
Yet despite the display of the peaceful transfer of power, in the final hours of office, Biden sought to protect people, including his own family members, who could face retribution from Trump in the coming days.
Earlier Monday morning, Biden preemptively pardoned former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House Jan. 6 investigatory committee.
Just 20 minutes before his presidency ended, Biden pardoned his family, including his businessman brother, James B. Biden, and political adviser and sister, Valerie Biden Owens. Joe Biden cited the “unrelenting attacks ” against his family as a reason for the clemency.
Trump’s inauguration took place in the Capitol Rotunda after the president cited frigid temperatures as the reason for scrapping an outdoor ceremony. The last-minute change was a rare move not seen since former President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1985, also due to weather-related concerns.
However, unlike Reagan’s standing-room-only ceremony, Trump’s inauguration included seating for guests in the rotunda.
In a similarity to Reagan’s 1981 swearing-in, Trump’s inauguration comes just after Biden announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after more than a year of fighting. Minutes before Reagan was sworn into office, hostages from a deal former President Jimmy Carter negotiated with Iran were finally freed.
As Trump championed the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, Biden clapped and stood with the audience.
The president aims to return to power by upending Washington norms, starting with inviting world leaders to the Monday ceremony.
As his second administration starts, Trump hopes to show a force of strength by quickly signing several executive orders at the Capital One Arena among a throng of supporters.
“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense, ” Trump said about his executive actions during his speech.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Chief among those orders are at least 10 that will focus on the southern border and curbing illegal immigration.
“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border, ” Trump said. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. ”
